Replying to Gauged ears ... what's the best way to let the holes heal up ?

so i was dumb and had my ears gauged to a 0 for about 3 years i think and i've decided to take them out ..

are there any tips that really work well for this ? i've heard everything from actually going bigger then going smaller right after to iniate the healing i guess to just gradually going down in size one step at a time.

right now i just took them out and trying to let them heal on their own ...